Uprising, 2025

Poloki Ogunte  

Ogunte Poloki (b. 1989) is a contemporary Nigerian abstractionist whose work transforms spontaneity into a vivid language of colour, gesture, and emotional release. Known for his energetic splatter techniques, cascading drips, and atmospheric layering, Poloki creates immersive compositions that feel both playful and primal, like visual jazz performed directly on canvas.

Working intuitively with fluid pigments, he embraces unpredictability as his core methodology. Each piece begins as an open field, where chance becomes collaborator and colour becomes narrative. Explosions of pink, yellow, green, and electric blue form worlds that hover between chaos and serenity, echoing natural phenomena - rainfall, cosmic dust, blooming fields, or eruptive landscapes - without ever surrendering to literal representation.

Poloki describes his practice as “the choreography of letting go." His canvases serve as spaces where emotion, memory, and movement collide, capturing moments that feel alive, unrestrained, and constantly shifting. This instinctive approach allows him to craft paintings that invite viewers to engage their senses, imagination, and curiosity, encouraging them to “play" within the work, just as he does while creating it.

Though emerging, Ogunte Poloki's works already demonstrate a confident command of colour relationships and the raw power of gesture. His Let's Play Series - a vibrant collection of six abstract paintings - marks the debut of an artist committed to exploring the boundaries of spontaneity, colour psychology, and the beauty born from unpredictability.

Ogunte Poloki continues to create from his Lagos studio, where he is developing a growing body of work centered on liberation, experimentation, and the joy of abstract discovery.